Demolition Hammer
Necrology

The Demolition Hammer, a New York-based band originated in 1986 under the name Overlord, changed their name in 1987, released their first demo in 1988 titled Skull Fracturing Nightmare, and in 1989 they are about to give birth to their second demo, titled Necrology.

In the period following the first demo, there have been changes within the lineup: in 1988, Vincent Civitano, superior to John Salerno in terms of aggression and skill with the instrument, replaced the latter on drums; the following year the trio transformed into a quartet, with the arrival of a second guitarist, Derek Sykes. One could argue that this lineup change led to the noticeable sound modifications, although not so radical. We believe the opposite is true: traditionally - in a higher sense - it is the preordained elements in the supersensible that manifest in the sensible, not the opposite; therefore, we are aware that it was the will of research - more or less "conscious" - toward a different sound orientation that then manifested, precisely in the realm of the sensible, through variations within the group, and not vice versa.

But now we must say something about the Demolition Hammer demo. First of all, we note the persistence of the dominant musical component of thrash metal, while certain influences of first-wave speed metal and black metal have been removed. Similarly, the hardcore punk influences have thinned significantly, remaining mostly confined to what in specialized jargon are called gang vocals.
As for the aforementioned changes, they resulted in a definitive settling by the quartet in the direction of brutal and violent thrash metal, with clearly oriented leanings towards death metal, so much so that the term thrash/death metal is not to be considered erroneous, even more marked in the subsequent work, the album Tortured Existence.

Compared to the first demo, the work in question undoubtedly presents a streamlining - albeit partial - of the sound, here less dark and obscure: the counterpart is given by the speed, significantly increased (the first three tracks, Crippling Velocity, Infectious Hospital Waste, and .44 Caliber Brain Surgery are examples of this), both in terms of guitars and drums. The latter expresses itself in sharper snare sounds, more intense use of the double bass drum, more widespread use of the tupa tupa, as already anticipated, accelerated compared to what could be heard in the previous work. Irregular times are not lacking in the song Hydrophobia, which is not so common for thrash metal itself.

The guitars, now in pairs, partially relieved of sonic heaviness, manifest with greater abrasiveness on one hand and present themselves as weavers of violent solos and refined musical architectures on the other. To testify to this, the central parts of the first three tracks are exemplifications of such refined sonic foundations, never descending into byzantinism and baroquism. That's not all. The second half of the demo illustrates even more clearly what has been said: tracks like Neanderthal, Mercenary Aggression, and Hydrophobia have these traits even more distinctly on their own, especially if attention is paid to tempo changes, sudden yet always organic (Neanderthal, Mercenary Aggression) and the use of irregular times, already mentioned (Hydrophobia). It could be said, without any danger of error, that the Demolition Hammer have understood the subtleties of bands like the more technical Dark Angel and early Voivod, skillfully interpreting them in an aggressive way, careful to avoid becoming bombastically redundant.
Minor differences from the previous demo are noted concerning Steve Reynolds’ vocals, remaining equally sharp, aggressive, growling; the bass, played by Reynolds himself, is clearly audible, energetic, and vigorous: consequently, there are no significant changes concerning Skull Fracturing Nightmare.

Having now considered the musical component, let's come to the lyricism, for which we had the opportunity to express ourselves in the review of the first demo; this time we will not conduct the same excursus into the division of themes: let's immediately reach what is necessary to emphasize here. In the textual domain, the horror-tanathological aspect already addressed, albeit briefly, is resumed: here it suffices to note that social criticism, present only in the first track of the demo Skull Fracturing Nightmare, appears entirely absent, except for some hints in Mercenary Aggression, more attributable to a personal opinion than to a truly objective insight.
On the contrary, some lyrics of the song Neanderthal impose more than one reservation, if not dissent. This is not the place for a long discussion intended to illuminate specific aspects of a serious race doctrine: it suffices to say here that the lyrics, of strict scientistic observance, betray more than one anti-traditional error. It is indeed incorrect, in the light of knowledge of uroboric doctrine, to speak of “progressive evolution” when referring to the Neanderthal man; similarly, indicating Cro-Magnon man as a “higher form of life” is a rather inadequate definition. Traditionally, in an Aryanist sense, one should know that the Cro-Magnon racial type does not belong to the Aryans of the Hyperborean seat: these are falls into Darwinism, into whims of linear naturalistic progressivism, constituting nothing but serious errors.

The rest of the lyrics, as earlier illustrated, are not particularly differentiated from what can be identified in the first demo - that is, the detachment, now demiurgic/divine, now bordering on disdainful sadism -, which seems a virtue: singular is the text of .44 Caliber Brain Surgery, showcasing the torments and anxieties of an individual obsessed with filth and bacteriological and/or viral organisms, who decides on suicide to end his biological life. The theme of death reappears, and although the narration is conducted in the first person, the sense of distance and aristocratic remoteness arrives again, all of which brings us nothing but pleasure; indeed, the lyrical structure - apart from certain non-negligible errors - is one of the strengths of Demolition Hammer, including the use of English terms belonging to the cultured register, which seems significant to us, considering the not infrequent neglect shown by most bands in terms of the composition of lyrics.

Let us now come to the judgment: given the musical proposal of the New Yorkers, excellent in expressing themselves with personality, well aware of the limits imposed by the genres in which metal is divided, able to combine deadly violence with more articulated structures, careful to stay far from bombastic hyperbolic schemes, despite being aware of those lyrical flaws we have exposed, we assign the highest praise to the American quartet, a group well capable of marking a distance between themselves and anodyne masses without any qualitatively differentiated personality.

Members:

Steve Reynolds - bass, vocals
James Reilly - guitar, backing vocals
Derek Sykes - guitar, backing vocals
Vincent Civitano - drums, backing vocals